GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, February 4, 2013 - Costa Rica, Panama
and Honduras opened with victories in day one of the XVII
Central American Men’s Volleyball Cup at Teodoro Palacios Flores
Gymnasium in Guatemala City.

The big news of the first day was the surprising five-set
victory of Honduras over hosts Guatemala in the nightcap, while
defending champions Costa Rica looked like a determined side to
retain the title. The winners of the cup get a ticket to the
NORCECA Continental Championship.

Costa Rica 3, Nicaragua 0

Costa Rica defeated Nicaragua 3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-19) in the
opening match. The winners showed a solid squad determined to
remain as the region’s champions and took control of the match
that lasted only 59 minutes from start to finish. Richard Smith
topped Costa Rica with 16 points while Jeffrey Calderón added
eight tallies. Costa Rica held margins of 9-2 in blocking and
4-0 in aces.

Panama 3, El Salvador 0

Panama earned their first win dominating El Salvador by 3-0
(25-11, 25-17, 25-21) in the second match of opening day. Panama
easily won the first two sets but El Salvador led most of the
third set before losing player Mauricio Rivas due to an injury.
Donaldo Ureña and Domingo Ávila led Panama with 16 and 13 points
respectively while Ricardo Brown and Carlos Zuñiga each
contributed 9 points. The winners were a lot better in the
blocking category 15-3.

Honduras 3, Guatemala 2

Honduras prevailed over Guatemala, in five sets 22-25, 25-21,
21-25, 25-21 and 20-18 in the last match of the day. A dramatic
win for Honduras, dominating the hosts with an impressive
blocking, they had an 18-8 advantage in that category. Carlos
Osorio led Honduras with 25 points while Evans Torres and
Wilfredo Lopez added 18 and 15. For the defeated side, Andy
Leonardo finished with 21 points while Oscar Garcia, Luis Garcia
and Jose Gonzalez added 16, 15 and 14 respectively.